The Reversed Collection
by Green the Cat
Summary: When everything changed, it was in the blink of an eye - the world and the order of nature was reversed. With no way of returning to its original state. These are the thoughts of some of those altered by the changes that occurred.
1. From One Thing to Another

Green the Cat is back with a reward for InvaderZamG.a.r! This beautiful work of literary pain was highly amusing to write and, as you all know by now, see bottom for more info.

* * *

After all, it was quite entertaining to watch an adult take orders from a Furret.

* * *

Kotone was quite content as she walked out of Pewter City, her loyal Typhlosion following behind her. The fire beast growled and tried to tug her back towards any building as she started the walk to Saffron City. Kotone grew tired of the stop-and-tug game and turned to gently scold the Pokemon. She crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow at the volcano beast, he snorted and nudged Kotone with his nose.

"You really need to stop that, Kaname. We won't get home on time if you don't.," she said, her words a soft admonishment.

Kaname turned his large head away for a moment before he gave another snort, followed by a growl, and pushed the trainer forward. The Typhlosion was rewarded with a pat on the front leg and a brilliant smile. However, as Kaname looked up with his scarlet eyes, he saw something – something Kotone had seen as well. It was hurtling down. Towards the earth. Towards them.

* * *

Kaname gave a groan as he came to. He ran a hand through his navy hair. He paused in the motion and pulled the hand back. Yes, Kaname had a hand when he was fairly sure he had paws. He took a quick glance down and snarled, a sound far from a human's voice. Kaname's anger forced him upright and he growled until he came upon a puddle of water. He clenched his jaw as his reflection glared back – a fairly attractive human male stared back with crimson eyes and navy hair. Kaname looked down at his hands – now aware that they were his own former paws. Deep blue gloves covered the pale skin he was sure that was hidden beneath them.

With another snarl, Kaname turned around and walked back to where he had woken up. Once he was sure there was no sign of another creature that he would recognize, Kaname opened his mouth.

"Alexander, Pip, Snowbell, Vincent! Get your asses back here!"

The human words that poured out barely registered as his normally irritated mood changed to pissed off. A heat coiled inside him and, without warning, a nearby bush turned to flames then quickly died down to nothing more than ash. Kaname paused and looked over at the bush – perhaps he wasn't as human as he had thought. Fortunately for the greenery around Kaname, a hand clasped onto the former fire beast. Kaname's crimson eyes glanced at the snowy skin for a brief second.

"Vincent, scout for Mistress Kotone.," he ordered to person behind him.

The hand faded away as if it had never existed, then returned to grasp onto Kaname's shoulders. Kaname felt the brim of a hat brush the back of his neck.

"It – it's strange. Everything's all wrong – reversed.," the figure said, the voice a whisper that shook with every syllable.

Kaname spun on his heel and gave a glare to the timid creature floating behind him. The golden eyes hid beneath the rim of the mage's hat that rested the male's head. Other than those bright eyes, the male was dressed on clothes that were purple and black – draped over his thin shoulders like a cloak of despair. Considering his origin species, Kaname was not surprised and instead spoke again.

"Explain, Vincent."

The floating male toyed with the brim of his dreary hat before he rested his feet on the ground.

"Where the humans were, there – there aren't any. I only saw Pokemon. They were odd too…," Vincent said, then jumped and tried to hide himself.

Kaname rolled his eyes and addressed the problem at hand… other than Vincent trying to bury his head in Kaname's chest. His gloved hand twisted in Vincent's beaten cloak prevented the ghost from phasing out for the time being, the sheer strength of that hold both calming the timid male and frightening him. Anger was a common, if not constant emotion from Kaname, if he was still angry then Kaname had no doubt that Vincent was less terrified of the current events.

"Are trying to re-kill him?," Kaname asked the new figure.

"Nope, just trying to see if he would still hide behind you."

The voice that answered was more masculine than Vincent's and much more confident. The sight of a purple haired man in gray and purple clothing greeted Kaname – Vincent was preoccupied.

"Alexander, what's going on out there?," Kaname asked. He paused to yank Vincent down from the air.

"I'm sure Timid over there covered the basics.," Alexander said, "However, it seems that while we became… damn close to being human, humans became equally close to turning into Pokemon."

Alexander seemed to struggle with his words before he paused to look up at the sky. Kaname remembered the habit the poison-type had and waited for a moment – using the time to hold Vincent close to him so the male couldn't run off. At last – a record of a successful minute of patience for Kaname – Alexander spoke again.

"The humans – or Pokemon, I suppose is the more correct term – still have traces of being human on them, like the shirts or hats or scarves they used to wear. They still have them."

Alexander gave another pause, this time to cough and pull something out of his shirt's pocket. Instead of speaking once again, he merely held out a slim card toward Kaname while his other hand was held to cover his mouth. Kaname took the card. Then he growled, only to change it to a snarl once Vincent tried to phase away again. The ghost stayed still.

On the string that it had when it still hung from Mistress Kotone's bag, the young woman's Trainer Card lay in Kaname's palm – still the bright purple she had left it at. He remembered that Kotone had liked the brilliant amethyst color better than her upgraded-gray card, then released Vincent to hang to card around his neck.

Vincent hid behind Alexander, whispering things into the poison-type's ear as he hovered and flitted around the older male's shoulders. Kaname glared in their direction.

"Follow me.," he said, walking off in the direction that their Mistress' smell was strongest.

He didn't turn his head to look back at Vincent and Alexander. He didn't look around for the two missing members of his team. He didn't speak to those behind him or yell for those missing. Kaname only walked forward, his jaw clenched and his ruby eyes trained on the path in front of him.

* * *

Snowbell awoke to the sound of silence. Her deep chocolate eyes looked around as she sat up to take in her surroundings. A deep forest – something that shouldn't have been as comfortable as it was for an ice-type. Slowly, Snowbell stood up and brushed off her white dress. She gave a tiny frown at her current state of being, and then began inspecting her new form for any injuries. When she found none, Snowbell's expression twisted to one of confusion. However, she had neither time nor true desire to figure out the twist in nature. She walked forward, her hands daintily folded in front of her and her face serene once more.

* * *

Pip floated about in the sky, her new frame just as light as her last and she smiled. Her small hands shaking the pompoms on her wrists to release little puffs of plant fluff. Her emerald scarf fluttered behind her and Pip dropped to land on the earth below. Once there, she twirled and spun around in circles until she was so dizzy that she toppled over. Pip laughed and giggled until an intense heat washed over her. Her orange eyes started to close, only to start open again upon three males that were very different from the other former Pokemon that ran around the forest. The purple card that hung around the leader's neck grabbed Pip's attention.

"Ka- Kaname!.," she yelled as loud as her burning lungs would allow.

Her cry was met with a burning red gaze, the angry stare that never seemed truly unkind familiar. Pip sighed with relief when the burning sensation stopped, then bounced up onto her feet and jumped around her leader. A slightly tanned male, the one with a toxic purple color for hair, grinned and spoke up.

"You know the fearless leader doesn't like it when you do that, Fluffball."

Pip rushed over and draped her arms around the purple-haired male's torso; she was too short to reach his neck.

"I was so worried.," Pip said, "I mean, I woke up all alone and no one answered me, and then I couldn't see anyone I knew when I flew up high and –"

She was cut off with a sharp look followed by a slow, melodic voice.

"Now, now, Pip, you needn't have fretted about us. I'm sure we are all fine and healthy."

Pip spun around to see a beautiful female with only chocolate eyes for coloration of her entire body. The snow white clothing did nothing to help the frigidness of her appearance. Only the kind smile added any warmth to her and Pip rushed over to hug her.

"Snowbell!"

Pip nearly cried with relief at finding all of her teammates, but something still seemed off…

"Where's Kotone-mama?"

Snowbell only nodded toward a tree and pushed Pip towards it. Pip frowned and, ever observant, Kaname quirked a brow at the snow queen – her response was to gesture with her gloved hands to the tree she had directed Pip to.

A tiny Furret with a large white hat jumped out of the tree to pounce onto Kaname and scamper on the fire-type's shoulders. The Furret also had a white scarf tied loosely around its neck and swayed about as the creature paraded about on Kaname, chattering in speech that was formerly their own. However, the dialect was too different for anyone but Kaname to truly understand. Alexander watched with obvious amusement as the rather volatile male listened intently to the chattering Furret.

After a moment of ferret-speak, Kaname spoke, his voice a bit softer and the grip he seemed to keep on Vincent loosened just a bit.

"Mistress Kotone says that we should go back to Johto and stay in her house for now."

Alexander bit his cheek before he gave up and laughed loudly – a relief for everyone else to see that, despite the abrupt species-change, they were all still the same in personality. After all, only Mistress Kotone could keep the violent Kaname in check and only Alexander would openly laugh at Kaname's reactions, especially one such as this.

Who wouldn't find the potentially most violent fire-type, a young man in form now, bowing to a small Furret's demands humorous, if not outright hilarious?

* * *

Hi! This piece was fun to write. The recipient of this work requested that I switch the roles of Pokemon and people and I think with how I switched the roles it went well. After all, if you've been near someone most of your life, you're going to find it hard to just leave them. Thus why Kaname and his teammates find each other... and are taking orders from a Furret. I think the idea of Kotone/Lyra turning into a Furret kind of funny - as well as cute and a fairly decent match for her given personality... for the most part. After all, she can have any personality you want her to have, though I was trying to make her gentler than she is in my other stories... How well did that work anyway? Also, as for Pip's comment, calling Kotone 'Kotone-mama', I figured that because Pip seems so mentally young she would develop sort of a need for Kotone - like a surrogate mother. The Pokemon-people in this fic are the actual team I have in one of my SoulSilver games, they have the same names and similar roles to the ones they have in my game. Pip was the second Pokemon I caught, she was caught in her first stage and is now in her last evolution stage... also helped knock out one of Lance's Dragonite, but I digress.

So here's a challenge: Name each Pokemon-people's origin species... except for Kaname, I told you what he was. Those that get even one of the remaining four right get a prize, winner's pick. Only one person per Pokemon-people though, so if someone listed all four and got two right - they would get two prizes and those two Pokemon-people are out of the contest... just like Kaname is now. For a recap:  
Alexander - poison-type, purple and gray color-scheme, darker skin tone  
Snowbell - ice-type, all white color-scheme, brown eyes  
Pip - flying-type, green scarf and puffball wristbands, weak to fire, has a three-stage evolutionary line, ornage eyes  
Vincent - ghost-type, golden eyes, purple and black color-scheme, mage's hat  
Now, remember that some interpretation of things is required - like the flying-type on Pip, I never directly stated that she was a flying-type but it was implied... actually, if I hadn't given away the others' types, I wouldn't have revealed that Pip was a flying-type. Also, try to remember that some of them may have dual-typing and some may not. Have fun!

NOTE: To participate in the above challenge and all other challenges, I need you to be logged in. If you do not have an account here and still wish to participate, I will need you to leave a contact e-mail. I can't give a reward to someone I can't get a hold of to tell them that they won. Also, depending on how much people like this, I may add chapters to make this a collection of how various teams adapt to being turned into Pokemon-people - nothing interconnected mind you, nothing except for the main catastrophic event.

I might upload some pictures of these five onto DeviantArt if I've got time.

Any who, later - Green the Cat


	2. Of Champions and Ladies

Hi everyone! I know I said I was done and that I was thinking of adding something to this, but I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this - so, the status of this work of awesome is back to in-progress. I really must thank InvaderZamG.a.r for such an awesome thought - so much thanks! Anywho, I hope you enjoy this part/section/something and read the bottom for extremely important info regarding this collection.

* * *

Truth be told, she wasn't a very patient female and neither was her partner.

* * *

White wiped the sweat off her brow with her arm as she walked up the slope. Strings of curses fell from her lips and the brunette was almost ready to throw her hat to ground, almost being the key word. However, White was damn stubborn and some damnable miniature mountain wasn't going to stop her. She took in a large breath and slowly exhaled; her companion slithered behind her and gave White a knowing golden glance. She huffed and crossed her arms, but did nothing to counter the Pokemon's argument – she knew what the snake was thinking, she just didn't understand his actual speech. She gave a glare at the green creature.

"You lucky son of a bitch, you're loving this weather, aren't you, Laurent?," White said, her tone a mixture of irritation and accusation.

The green snake merely dipped his head in acknowledgement of his trainer's statement. A light flickered in the corner of his eye and his head turned toward the source. Falling – no, White. With a hiss, Laurent struck. His tail curled around his trainer, the girl's sapphire eyes widening as she caught sight of the burning sky. Laurent wrapped himself around White. Everything went black as the world flashed white.

* * *

The ground dug into his side, the rocks threatening to cut his skin open. He hissed and braced his hand – hand? – against the ground. He blinked his eye and paused. Since when was the world so clear?

The world suddenly had depth and color that he had never known existed. The brightness of the day nearly burned his eyes and he let out another low hiss. He lowered his eyes and looked around. Where was White? A lady must never be left alone – well, his lady could never be left alone. Lady White often brought more trouble to her than she needed – or wanted for that matter.

A whimper sounded from near his side. Laurent looked down, pale green strands of hair falling into his golden eyes. He merely glanced at the obscuring strands before giving his whole attention to the creature curled against him. Laurent settled his gaze just off of the creature and dipped his head in a bow.

"Lady White?"

His new voice was a lower octave than he was used to, but melodic and akin to silk when he spoke unlike the higher pitched hisses that were so harsh to his lady's ears. Laurent hummed a slow tune from his memory as he waited for the small creature to uncurl itself.

The pale green that covered the young creature's face lowered and, unlike any other of its – no, her species, brilliant blue eyes stared at him. The three leaves, normally standing upright, drooped down to twist down her back. Two corners of the green 'dress' moved to where her mouth would have been and tears welled up in her eyes. Her white face tilted up to look at him properly and she nodded.

Laurent stopped humming to smile at the young female.

"My Lady, may I assist you?," Laurent said, his words crisp and carefully pronounced. He received a sharp nod for his efforts.

Laurent rose to his feet, brushing off his deep green breeches in the process, before he helped his lady to balance herself. Once Lady White had been taken care of as much as she would allow, Laurent went about straightening his attire – pulling his gloves taut, adjusting his coat, unrolling the cuffs. With a final act of brushing his pale green hair out of his eyes, Laurent returned his attention to his lady. At her annoyed stare, he held out his hand – he had already made sure the gloves were spotless – and waited for White to take the appendage. A pale green sheet grasped onto his hand and Laurent led her off of the steep hill and onto the relatively safer trail down the slope.

Once White was comfortable with her new walking conditions, she released Laurent's hand. He fell behind her, maintaining a constant two-step gap between himself and his lady. She turned to level her blue gaze on him. In response, his golden eyes lowered to somewhere in between Lady White's nose and the ground. He pursed his lips as she stomped the ground with her hidden feet – thin stems that barely held up his tiny lady.

"Do you wish for me to retrieve our companions, milady?," Laurent asked, his eyes flicking to the side – he was quite sure that something had moved in that direction.

His lady threw up her little green dress and walked off. Laurent quirked an eyebrow, but walked in the direction of the shadow he had seen a breath ago. His leather boots were almost silent on the trail, barely gaining any sound even when he stepped onto the rocky sides of the trail. A rock rolled down from just above his lowered head and he frowned. Already stepping back, Laurent reached into his odd coat, his hand clenched around the hilt of a sword. With a flash of silver, Laurent met his opponent's blade with his own. His eyes narrowed, but his sword swung through the air and, with a single flick, his opponent was disarmed. He looked up and met the gray gaze of his opponent.

A young woman greeted him, her clothes a mix of black and gray and deep red. The only color she seemed to favor was the jade scarf – he remembered Lady White giving one of his teammates such a scarf as a way to integrate the female with the rest of the team. The woman's lips fell into an 'o'-shape and Laurent flicked his gaze away from her face. He fell into a deep bow as he pulled his arms to rest behind his back.

"I am deeply sorry, dear lady. I did not injure you terribly I hope.," Laurent said, keeping his gaze off of the woman entirely while trying to place where he had encountered such a rude woman before. Adelle seemed the likely choice, but even she had more manners than to attack someone whom appeared unarmed. However –

"Laurent?"

The woman's voice was a mix of disbelief and anger, anger at what Laurent supposed he wouldn't know. He looked up to meet her steel-like eyes.

"Dear lady, if you would kindly explain yourself?," he asked. His voice made no room for disagreement and she licked her lips as she struggled to gather her thoughts – and her breath apparently, Laurent noted, as her chest heaved. His gaze flicked to the sword she had wielded for their brief spar – far too large for a woman of her size.

"It's me… Adelle.," the woman said. Laurent quirked an eyebrow as she stopped speaking to chew on her lip.

"I see…," he said, then thought for a moment, "Then I hope you would not mind accompanying me to locate our lady."

Adelle glared at him – yes, the woman was indeed his teammate. She nodded and grabbed her sword – at which he made a 'tsk' at – before following him down the rocky path. He barely made any acknowledge of her as the two walked towards their lady, but the clink of steel hitting steel repeatedly was quite hard for Laurent to ignore.

"Lady Knight, do you require assistance?," he said, his voice similar to the hisses he used to give out as commands. "Perhaps, you would be of more use as a lady-in-waiting with how poorly you take care of your weaponry."

Laurent heard he stutter as continued walking, but the clinking of metal was gone and Adelle seemed to remember her role in their team. A small smile graced Laurent's lips as Adelle regained her confidence – enough that she took the lead on their way down the slope. She gave him a glare – nothing to laugh at had he been another being – and knelt in front of their lady. Laurent bowed as well before he spoke.

"My lady, as you see, Adelle has been located and returned to your company. Would you prefer she stay while I retrieve the others?"

Lady White merely rested her dainty 'hands' on Adelle's and walked off. Laurent gave a sigh at his lady's antics. White was hardly lady-like by textbook definition – he was certain he would get an earful about his behavior once he returned about the, as Lady White put it, 'whole Lady thing'.

Laurent walked off in the opposite direction and set out to find his teammates.

* * *

Of the many times he had been mistaken for a female, this was one of the worst instances. He tugged on the large white ribbon that held back his hair and set about tossing away the old-fashioned cloak he had been 'graced' with. Never again... Hopefully. He closed his icy eyes in an effort to clear his mind – mostly to destroy the memory of the male's lips against his.

After several moments, his meditation had not only cleared his mind, but allowed him to locate what he was fairly sure was Laurent's soul. The soul in question was the color of a spring green, just barely coloring the white of winter's snow and yet retaining the same chill that cut through one's bones – a noble's soul. He frowned as the noble in question walked out of the trees and moved a pebble on his chart in response. He settled his gaze on the noble and mentally prepared himself for the flash of life that brushed his conscious as well as the barest kiss of death that followed.

"Hello, Laurent.," he said while lowering his gaze.

"Light, must you hide your gaze the moment you see someone. It is quite rude to hide away your face entirely. One must know whether or not they have your attention while they speak to you.," the green-garbed male said.

"Seeing death is rather unpleasant as we are now, it will take some time before I can meet your expectations."

Light made no move to remove the ebony hair from his eyes, but was jolted out of his thoughts – ah, that chart would take some time to re-create – as Laurent grabbed his arm and pulled him up to meet Laurent's gold gaze. His expression was not kind, if it ever truly was, and his lips brushed Light's cheek.

"It matters not if you meet my expectations in terms of etiquette, however, you will meet my standards for doing your duties without fail or pause.," Laurent said, his voice firm with a bit of winter chill he held within his soul, "Lady White requires your presence immediately."

Laurent paused, his breath warm on Light's cheek and Light felt his face flush. Laurent only played fair on the battlefield or when addressing White. Light's mind flicked through various ways to save face in front of the rather irate lord-servant that seemed determined to make him as uncomfortable as possible.

"I do apologize for being tardy for my summons, but I was trying to be productive to both Lady White and yourself.," Light said, manners from when he had first met the grass-type coming to fore as he diverted his gaze away from Laurent's damning stare.

"Explain."

Quick and to the point, this Light could handle as long as Laurent got not a millimeter closer. However, as if to challenge the psychic-type, Laurent lifted a hand to trace Light's jaw and smirked. Light swallowed and began speaking as calmly as he could manage.

"I was attempting to discover the location of our companions. I had just finished when you walked through the trees."

Light's words seemed to appease Laurent and the former, in appearance alone, snake gave him a genuine smile and directed him to lead the way as his arm was released. Light took in a deep breath and began to lead Laurent in the direction of their farthest companion. Better to make the trip as quick as possible, Laurent was never known for being the most patient of creatures… At least he wasn't violent and could be appeased fairly easily.

* * *

Several hours later, Light had managed to find all of their missing partners and keep Laurent happy… for the most part any way. However, Miku's comments were not helping that mood at all. Not in the slightest.

"-But you look so pretty, Light! I wish I could have naturally red lips.," she said as she walked – or was twirled the correct verb. Every step seemed to have Miku spinning, her pink dress twisting around her slender legs. How she stayed upright and not dizzy, Light would never know, but that wasn't the problem right now.

"Miku, if you had paid attention when Lady White was training you, you would know that you will have such coloration once you are older.," Laurent said. His voice nearing the low hiss that tended to scare the hell out of most people.

Light was beginning to think that the sword in the forest green coat Laurent wore was not the male's only weapon. His words, and his voice by association, were equally fearsome especially when accompanied by either his glare or his sword. Light sighed as Miku shifted away from the former serpent, her type's natural aversion to grass-like creatures evident in her actions.

A gloved hand brushed his and Light felt his face flush. His face turned down without any thought on his part, a vain attempt to hide his face beneath his ebony hair – Miku had mentioned how she would have liked to have the long hair that both Laurent and himself had managed to acquire… as well as a few other things involving how pretty the green of Laurent's would look when mixed with his deep black. He had stopped listening to her at about that point. Emma, however, had encouraged her – more to irritate Laurent than any real desire to actual see the end result of Miku's babbling.

Though, in contrast, Emma was rather plain compared to the rest of the group. Her brown hair was cropped in neatly kept bob with a gray beret to keep it from getting mangled by the wind – she was rather picky about such things. Like Adelle, Emma wore one piece of clothing that held any real color, her choice being a brilliant amethyst top that was mostly hidden by the gray pantsuit she preferred to wear as of their conversion to mostly human. Unlike Miku, her attempts to irritate Laurent didn't end as successfully as she would have liked.

"Now, now, Laurent, she means well and you know it… Unless of course, you would prefer us not to talk about how Miku would rather emulate a male. Hmm, though the only reason I could think of that you wouldn't want us to breach such a subject is that you are uncomfortable with it…," Emma said, her slightly accented voice carrying over Miku's protests and striking Laurent's ears quite clearly.

That was the other problem Light was having, either Emma's attempts didn't work at all or they worked much too well. Light groaned as he hid his face in his hands. Laurent was never uncomfortable with a subject unless it directly applied to him and everyone knew it. He had a feeling this was going to end terribly.

Fortunately, Shang broke up the soon-to-be argument. With his pale lavender coloring and unshakeable discipline, the young man made quite the scene amongst the rest of the group.

"Lord Laurent asked you to be silent, I'd suggest doing so, if we are to be of any use to young Lady White.," he said. His voice barely above a whisper and with that quiet sound, both Emma and Miku slowly shut the mouths and let their eyes take in the world around them.

"Thank you, Shang.," Light said, his voice even quieter. Only able to be heard by Shang, through proximity, and Laurent, through advanced 'hearing' from having terrible eyesight as a Pokemon – snakes were rather offset with that limitation, ironic that Laurent's glare was one of his most useful tools at his disposal.

Shang nodded as he folded his hands beneath his tunic's sleeves and settled himself to walk behind the females of their group. Laurent sent Light a smile, devoid of any mockery, and ran his fingers along Light's jaw as a gift.

In Light's opinion, Laurent really needed to grasp how intimate some of his hand gestures were… or better yet, learn how exactly to use his new hands. Damn snakes.

* * *

I had lots of fun with this one! Laurent and Light were some of my personal favorites to write, the clash of personalities - in my opinion - is humorous. Laurent is borderline arrogant - though he may be arrogant to you - and very eloquent, perhaps charismatic is a better word for him; then you've got Light who happens to be shy - not as bad Vincent though - but not afraid to voice his opinions... as long as the people he's talking to aren't touching him.

Anywho, rewards for those that can guess what five of the team members are - Laurent doesn't count, but you can can get a reward for explaining why he has sword. So here's a vague recap:  
Adelle - wears predominately darker colors, carries a sword, gray eyes, called 'Lady Knight'  
Light - psychic-type, wears his hair in a ribbon, black hair and blue eyes, very feminine  
Shang - wears lavender, quiet, heavily disciplined (double reward for this one)  
Emma - wears a gray outfit, relatively plain-looking, used to strong winds  
Miku - wears a pink dress, would have red lips if she 'grew up', weak to grass-types

To help narrow down the possibilities, this is my team from Black, therefore, think Unova! However, all that fun aside, here's some thought-gum. I tried something else for a writing style, personally I like it, but a friend of mine who read this before it was put up here said it had a lack of detail... so how well does it read? Is it good or do I need to work on it some more? Another question, how would everyone like it if I threw in some trainers that have a set team... say Red, Blue, Falkner, Steven, Roark, ect.? Anyone like this thought?

This collection may turn out to be quite large for, in the end, I'm hoping to write a 'Reversed'-scenario for every Pokemon game I own - even games I own duplicates of. An example being I have two copies of White... damn Nuzlocke... I was kind of attached to the team on my other copy so I bought a new one, but that was a while ago and who really gives a damn why I have two copies? Depending on how well everyone likes this collection, I may set-up something where you guys can request for team to be put in here. You guys wouldn't have to use the default trainer names or anything like these first... things?... have. Still not sure what to call these 'chapters' because they're not chapters or themes or a separate collection for each entry and calling them one-shots doesn't seem to fit, but that's my problem so let's focus on how to make this collection better. Oh, thoughts on letting you guys in on the 'Reversed' collection - is this a good idea, bad idea, too personal? So, drop a review or what-not containing your questions and comments... Since I'm not sure about the adding your teams to this beast of thought-bunny, don't add those please.

Okay, need some thoughts on this thing, please. Well, I'm out for now.

Adieu - Green the Cat


	3. For a Family

Damn, this part was a bitch to write. Fortunately, once I started it went well... In my opinion anyway. Enjoy this part, but for the challenge - you're going to have to do some work. I was kind of vague this round. Happy reading!

* * *

For all it was worth, she truly did try.

* * *

Lucia twirled her blue hair around her finger as she waited for her food to finish cooking. She sent Oak a blue glance and turned her attention to breaking apart a stick. Lucia tossed half of the stick in Oak's direction and flung the other half in the opposite direction. As expected, one of two of her team got up to chase after the stick. Oak merely began to munch on the stick – pine was delicious.

After all the battling at the Battle Tower, Lucia had decided that her team needed a break. She picked a campsite a little ways from all the battling and people of the Battle Grounds. Her team seemed to be enjoying the peace and quiet.

Even so, something seemed off and Lucia couldn't quite place her finger on it. A spark of white flashed in the corner of her eye. Lucia looked up. Her eyes widened. She felt a tug on her scarf. Her world went dark.

* * *

Oak wasn't the type to say much – actually, he preferred letting the other members of his team speak. However, this was one of those times where talking was not only expected of him, it was needed.

Lucia, their brilliant trainer, lay in the center of camp – her desired 'ramen' wouldn't be so desirable once she came to. Oak looked around, his orange gaze checking to make sure the entire team was there. When he discovered they were, he cleared his throat. In seconds, he had everyone's attention – now what he was going to say, he had no immediate idea.

"We should stay here. Lucia can decide what to do once she awakens.," Oak said after several moments. His voice was deep and slow, measured and calm – relaxing to his team.

A laugh sounded, it was bittersweet, but welcomed all the same. Tension that had built up from Oak's statement – hell, from the current situation itself – relaxed a little. The person laughing may have been the cause for the effect though – Oak was sure either Victoria or Cleopatra would have killed anyone else.

The blonde that rested against Cleopatra chuckled a moment longer before he opened his sapphire eyes and smiled. He tugged at his orange jacket, fiddling with the partly blue sleeves. He gave another light laugh and a wide grin.

"Come on! Life isn't that bad. We're alive, Lucia's alive, and we can still protect her.," the blonde said, his grin never once faltering.

Cleopatra seemed to relax at his words, then she bolted upright as if something dire had happened – what was worse than being as they were now, Oak really didn't want to know.

"Fuck! The egg…," Cleopatra said, her voice going from a feline hiss to a sorrowful whisper and trailing off.

She buried her head in the blonde's shoulder, quiet sobs coming from the female. The blonde's grin slipped and turned as sour as his first laughter. He wrapped his arms around Cleopatra, muttering soft words into her ears.

"Cleo, don't worry. Everything will be fine. Right, Arianna?," the blonde said, his smile trying to comfort his team. Everyone saw the sorrow clinging to carefree male though, but it was hard to comfort the couple. How did one ease that kind of pain?

Arianna tugged at her brown and white dress as she looked away. To see River, of all the creatures in the world, depressed just seemed so wrong – so terrible, as if nothing would be okay. After all, River was the only one who could get Oak to talk for long periods of time, the only one would had received Cleopatra's blessing – she hated water-types, and the only one who kept Mikail from killing Victoria some days. However, when the one person who helped cement the team together was torn between helping and grieving, things really were bad.

Mikail looked over at her and flicked his hazel eyes up – towards the sky. Arianna understood and the despair of being helpless lifted. She turned her red gaze towards Oak and stepped forward.

"I will go and see what is happening elsewhere.," she announced, a tiny promise to check on the egg in Solaceon was left unsaid.

Oak nodded, a careful and deliberate gesture – he received a small smile from River for his efforts.

"Fly quickly."

Arianna had already started to take off as Oak spoke. She steeled herself for a long, nearly tortuous pace of flight that she would almost regret in a few hours, but to see River smile again… It was worth every ounce of strength she could muster if he would smile once she returned. If everyone on the team had specific role in battle, they had a specific role outside of the arena. It just so happened that River was the heart of their team.

With a single look at Mikail – thank you, mutt – Arianna disappeared into a foggy night. Yes, River was the heart, Oak was the mind, Mikail was the protector, Victoria was pessimist, Cleopatra was the warrior, and she was the messenger. A messenger of good news or bad news, but still a messenger. She would bring back good news… even if it killed her.

* * *

River sighed as he ran a hand through Cleopatra's loose black hair – he had long since removed the little star thing that held her hair back. It was hard to comfort her when all he wanted to do was break down and cry himself, but River tried to smile at least – apparently, it was one of the only things he did right. However, every time he tried, it came out wrong and River gave up. He shot Victoria a glare when the dark-type had begun to talk of all the things that could have happened to the egg – not only was such talk cruel, but Cleopatra had begun letting off little sparks of electricity on her sorrow and they hurt like hell. Even he lost his temper when Victoria started on all the ways to cook an egg.

"Shut the hell up.," he said. River pronounced each word as if it were its own sentence, a growl forming towards the end.

Victoria gave huff and crossed her arms, but her look of shame was undeniable. Pissing off Cleopatra may have been amusing – if weren't either himself or Arianna – but pissing him off wasn't good for about half of the team. Despite the fact that Victoria and Mikail seemed to want to murder each other, they both had a weakness to him. However, Mikail knew when let sleeping dogs lie – River found much humor in that thought. He released a quiet chuckle as he pulled Cleopatra closer, at this rate she would be in his lap by the time she calmed down… not that he was complaining, but he doubted that getting that close to her while she was still upset was good for his health. Another jolt of electricity went through his body and River bit down a gasp – electricity hurt and was more than likely going to kill him. River laughed again, this time louder and he caught the attention of Mikail.

"…Do I want to know?," the male asked. His voice betrayed how young the fighting-type was compared to most of the team.

"Probably not, but I'll tell you anyway. First, you realize that you and Victoria are birds of a feather? Er, dogs of a pack?"

River received two glares for his attempt to calm the rest of the team down. He tried to grin, but though his smile spread across his face, he knew that it was a pitiful attempt.

"Second, of all the creatures I mate, I choose one that can kill me. It doesn't help that I have an innate weakness to the lovely zaps of pain said mate is currently giving me."

A sad chuckle sounded from his side and River gave another grin, one that didn't feel so empty. Victoria started laughing too and soon both Mikail and Oak joined in. River smiled wider and started talking again – he was doing something right.

"Victoria, if you can melt Mikail's defenses, why are you afraid of him?"

Mikail and Oak laughed louder as Victoria struggled to respond to the question. In the end, she gave up and instead shot back with another question.

"Why is it that you are more of a leader than Oak over there?," she asked, pointing a gloved finger in the direction of the quiet male.

"I don't like talking… I'm also not that much of people-person.," Oak said. His response spurred on more laughter, the giggling at River's side becoming more pronounced.

For the next several minutes, River merely guided well-intentioned questions and good-natured insults while he tried to coax Cleopatra into participating in the bonding-exercise. Eventually, the woman lifted her head from the orange jacket and started a whole new slew of questions and insults.

"If everyone here is so damned friendly, why am I the only one with a mate?"

River laughed as their companions turned red and tried to stutter out responses.

"I think Mikail is a bit young to be that attached. Besides, who really wants to deal with Victoria nagging at them every day? Oak is fair game though, Cleo."

Victoria's face turned red with anger and Mikail turned his head away in embarrassment as Oak's jaw dropped. River laughed some more as Cleopatra took the advice to terrorize the team leader. Even when Lucia came to – their trainer was now a rather cute little Buizel – everyone tried to stay happy, tossing mild hints about River having to raise Lucia. Cleopatra smiled as River's face turned pink – it was a notion that wasn't worth responding to, but it did help everyone feel a bit better.

Then, Arianna landed while tugging at her mantle with one hand and the camp's friendly atmosphere evaporated. River sighed, but smiled anyway – he needed to know what had happened.

"Arianna, you have terrible timing.," he said as Cleopatra twisted around to see the final member of their 'family'.

Arianna gave a smile and a nod before taking three measured steps towards River and Cleopatra. River gave her a scolding look, but cocked his head in curiosity.

A soft cry sounded from somewhere and River's eyes widened, his arms falling to his sides as Cleopatra sprung into movement. Her moves were quick and agile, a true feline's movements, and few of their team registered that Cleopatra had been sitting on River – more like supported by River – just a few seconds ago. Something was passed between Arianna and Cleopatra, something River was suddenly terrified of as well as something that was giving Victoria a vicious smirk – he'd have to avoid sparring with her for a few days. Cleopatra walked back over to him, cuddling the thing – River was not afraid to admit he was in denial of the current moment. Lucia trailed after Cleopatra, looking up the ebony-colored blanket in her arms.

With little ceremony, but a tremendous amount of gentleness, the blanket was tucked into River's arms. River moved the blanket. A tiny face greeted him, it looked dead for a moment, and then River felt the soft wisps of breath against his fingers. He blinked once before an even wider grin settled on his features.

"Lucia, is there any way I can talk you into letting us go back to Twinleaf Town?," River said.

The young Buizel – he wondered if he had ever looked so innocent – tilted her head and gave some quick squeaks in response. River laughed at the little sea weasel. Apparently, he had to try and lead now. After all, there was no way in hell Oak could translate Lucia's squeaks.

* * *

Wow, this ended quite a bit more serious than I had originally intended, but it seems to fit and I like it. Anywho, thoughts please? After all, just because I like it doesn't mean that you guys do - which is what really matters. Fortunately, as I had promised, this is here on a wonderful Wednesday evening. On another note, Lucia is the German variant of Dawn/Hikari/whatever from the Sinnoh region games. For those questioning on the whole egg bit, it occurred to me as I was writing this that not every Pokemon in the world would be hatched when the whole 'apocalypse-thing' goes down so... I went there. Not sure if I did it right, but I did indeed go there. I would really love some thoughts on that part. Also, due to the nature of how the teams work, I'm thinking of adding the 'drama' genre to this work. Now, I've still got a few - lot - of games to go through, but to break up the monotony of you guys just reading my teams - you guys now have the option of requesting gym leaders or members of the elite four... Hmm, perhaps it's more like the elite twenty now, but whatever, my point is made. If you want something specific, review or whatnot and I'll see what I can do for you. As I said last time, this is going to be a beast once it's actually finished.

CHALLENGE HAS APPEARED! Guess the Pokemon-people's origin species! With new twists! I'm no longer going to give a recap of the provided info down here... I need to cut down my author's notes. However, I'll try and have the important info up on my profile if you are terrible at making inferences - depending on the material, I am too. I'm not going to leave you entirely clueless though, names are still going to be here. Thus: Oak, Arianna, River, Cleopatra, Mikail, and Victoria - this what you need to know. One winner per Pokemon-people and if you win, we haggle over the reward. Sound good?

Review and all that jazz, but mostly enjoy your reading experience with me, adieu - Green the Cat


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